Headlines

More Topics

Weather Forecast

Letter: Bill won’t end bullying

By Lowell Tieszenvfrom Willmar on Apr 18, 2014 at 7:00 a.m.

Bless her heart, Rep. Mary Sawatsky thought the anti-bullying bill was a bill to end bullying in Minnesota schools. It was not.

As a social conservative I could be offended by her vote, because I do believe this law will in fact be used as a weapon against students and the parents of students who feel the LGBT agenda is wrong for society. Again, I could be offended, but I have come to expect no more and no less from Mary and it does no good to be perpetually offended.

But if I was a public school teacher, I would be fit to be tied. Bringing a bill like this to the Legislature is to imply that our teachers up until now have not known what bullying is, that they have not lifted a finger to stop it, and are incapable of doing so until St. Paul “educates” them on the issue. This is an insult.

The epidemic of bullying, if it is that, is probably the result of liberal policies already foisted upon public education. Take moral training out of the schoolroom, strip teachers of the ability to apply meaningful discipline and empower insecure parents and their lawyers with expensive lawsuit victories, and you just might end up with unruly, mean-spirited kids who don’t know any better than to act out their evolutionary instincts (survival of the fittest). No amount of indoctrinating mandates, censorship, and handholding from St. Paul at this point will change anything.

What kids need, the bullied and the bullies, are adults who love them enough to teach them that their value is not determined by their peers, but by a God who loves them. Another “feel-good” bill is not the answer, though it might help some Democrats feel like they are good people.